Crist wants spring training in Fla.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Gov. Charlie Crist called on Mr. October to help keep baseball in Florida each February and March.

Crist met with Hall of Fame outfielder Reggie Jackson, who earned the "Mr. October" nickname with his World Series hitting with the New York Yankees, as well as Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer, former catcher Rick Dempsey and Baltimore Orioles Vice President John Angelos on Wednesday to make it clear he'll do whatever he can to keep spring training in Florida.

All assured Crist that at least the Yankees and Orioles wouldn't be deserting Florida for the Arizona desert, as the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Indians are doing this year.

"I've lived in Arizona, the best place to train is in Florida," said Palmer, who went to high school and college in Arizona and spent his entire major league career with the Orioles.

Major League Baseball teams have been coming to Florida to prepare for their seasons for a century. But Arizona began competing as a training site in 1946, when the Indians and New York Giants based their camps there. The Cactus League expanded to three teams in 1952. Several teams have moved back and forth between the states in the decades that followed, a migration that's been working more in Arizona's favor in recent years.

Next February, when the Indians move back to Arizona and the Dodgers leave Vero Beach after six decades, Florida will be down to 16 spring training teams. Arizona will have 14. The Cincinnati Reds could move two years from now, meaning teams would be evenly split between the states.

Crist revived an annual baseball dinner last month to kick off spring training, and on Wednesday kept up his efforts to promote the sport in Florida. He said it's important for the state to show its appreciation, and suggested he would support tax incentives to either keep teams in Florida, or lure them back from Arizona.

"It's an economic driver for Florida," Crist said. "It's not just good for our players and owners, it's good for people who need jobs and that's important to me."

Angelos, whose father Peter is the Orioles owner, said keeping a large number of teams in Florida is important to the health the Grapefruit League.

"To the extent that teams continue to move from Florida to Arizona, you lose that critical mass. You not only lose the economic impact, but you lose the ability to formulate a league and maintain that viability," said Angelos, whose team trains in Fort Lauderdale.

While there's speculation that the Orioles might move to the Vero Beach facility the Dodgers are leaving, Angelos said they will not leave Florida.

"The most important thing is to keep the Orioles and the Yankees and all the other teams that are in Florida, as the governor has said, in the state of Florida," he said.

Jackson said the Yankees will also be staying.

"The Steinbrenner family as well as the Yankees love Florida. We love our stadium, we love our facility there in Tampa and recognize that Florida is the place for spring training," he said. "We're just happy to be part of what the state is trying to do to continue to bring people here and keep people here."